QAA targeted peer review at the University of Glasgow, and what it signals for student feedback evidence

Updated Sep 07, 2026

QAA published its targeted peer review of the University of Glasgow on 27 January 2026. The review responded to a concern raised by the Scottish Funding Council and identified systemic risks to academic standards and the student experience. QAA announcement.

The scope and recommendations

Four reviewers, including a student reviewer, examined assessment regulations and credit, extensions, communication, risk and oversight, and student involvement in institutional change. The process ran from September to November 2025.

The report made 21 recommendations. QAA said Glasgow would need an action plan within four weeks. It recommended additional liaison meetings in 2025–26 and 2026–27, and bringing the next regular external review forward to 2027–28. The announcement also reported a Scottish Funding Council decision to commission a wider Scottish review of assessment policies and procedures.

The concern followed an internal investigation after a student’s death, but QAA expressly states that this review did not examine the individual circumstances of that incident. Its findings must not be presented as a determination about that case. Review scope and next steps.

A practical assessment-process check

Our suggestion for teams elsewhere is to examine a student’s journey through an assessment process. Can they find the applicable regulations, identify an extension route, understand who makes the decision and see how a concern is escalated?

Compare the documented process with student accounts and operational records. A recurring complaint can identify a question for investigation; it does not establish the prevalence or cause of a problem across the whole institution. Record what was checked, what changed and how students will be involved in evaluating the response.

Keep this Scottish review distinct from OfS regulation in England. Its case-specific action plan does not create the same deadline for every UK institution. Our comment analysis governance checklist can support the separate task of documenting qualitative evidence and its limitations.

Review note, 7 September 2026: clarified the review’s scope and Scottish context, removed an unverified supporting reference to a different university, and separated practical suggestions from QAA’s findings. This news summary uses QAA’s announcement rather than claiming a review of every recommendation in the full report.